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Mycologia, 96(1), 2004, pp. 26-35.
© 2004 by The Mycological Society of America

Selective induction, purification and characterization of a laccase isozyme from the basidiomycete Trametes sp. AH28-2


Y. Z. Xiao
Q. Chen
J. Hang
Y. Y. Shi 1

     Laboratory of Structure Biology, School of Life Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui, 230026, P.R. of China

Y. Z. Xiao
J. Wu
Y. Z. Hong
Y. P. Wang

     Laboratory of Microorganism and Gene Technology, School of Life Sciences, Anhui University, Hefei, Anhui, 230039, P.R. of China

    ABSTRACT
 TOP
 ABSTRACT
 INTRODUCTION
 MATERIALS AND METHODS
 RESULTS
 DISCUSSION
 LITERATURE CITED
 

The white-rot fungus Trametes sp. AH28-2 can synthesize extracellular laccase by induction in cellobiose-based liquid culture medium. Both yields and composition of laccase isozymes, produced by Trametes sp. AH28-2, would be quite different with induction by different small-molecule aromatic compounds, o-toluidine, guaiacol and 3,5-dihydroxytoluene, which affected microbial growth and the synthesis of laccase isozymes differentially. Higher concentrations of the three inducers could considerably increase laccase isozymes yields but not change the laccase composition. Coculturing of Trametes sp. AH28-2 with either Aspergillus oryzae or Gloeophyllum trabeum showed a few effects on laccase production. Laccase isozyme, laccase B, was selectively induced by 3,5-dihydroxytoluene and purified to homogeneity by two-step chromatography. Purified laccase B appeared as blue, with a broad peak at about 600 nm and a shoulder peak at about 330 nm. The ratio of absorbance at 280 nm to that at 600 nm was 21. Every molecule of laccase B had approximately four copper atoms. Molecular mass of laccase B was estimated to be 74 kDa on SDS-PAGE, 72 kDa by FPLC and was determined to be 71 454 Da by mass spectrum. After being treated with N-glycosidase F, laccase B lost 25% of its molecular mass. The isoelectric point of laccase B was 4.0. Its optimal pH and temperature for oxidizing guaiacol were respectively 4.7 and 45 C. The half-life of the enzyme at 60 C was 14.0 min. The enzyme showed a good stability in a range of pH value of 3.5–7.5. The Km values of the enzyme toward substrates syringaldazine, guaiacol, ABTS, and DMOP were respectively 28.0, 1249.0, 177.0 and 109.8 µM. The corresponding Vmax are 504.0, 1910.0, 117.4 and 159.0 µM min-1 mg-1. In addition, activity of laccase B was inhibited strongly by sodium azide and cyanide, mildly by SDS and trifluoroacetic acid, but only weakly by dimethyl sulfoxide.

Key words: Aromatic compounds, 3,5-dihydroxytoluene, guaiacol, laccase isozyme, o-toluidine, Trametes sp. AH28-2


    INTRODUCTION
 TOP
 ABSTRACT
 INTRODUCTION
 MATERIALS AND METHODS
 RESULTS
 DISCUSSION
 LITERATURE CITED
 
Laccase, a kind of polyphenol oxidase containing copper atoms, can oxidize an array of organic and inorganic substrates, including mono-, di-, and polyphenols, aminophenols, methoxyphenols, as well as metal complexes: ferrocene, ferrocyanide or iodide, by concomitant four-electron reduction of oxygen to water. Laccase can be found in plants, insects and bacteria, but its major source is fungi. In fungi, it is associated with many biological functions such as lignin degradation, removal of potentially toxic phenols (Argyropoulos 2001Citation, Bourbonnais et al 1995Citation), morphogenesis (Zhao et al 1999Citation), pigment synthesis, sporulation (Leatham et al 1981Citation), phytopathogenesis and fungal virulence (Rigling et al 1993Citation, Williamson 1997Citation). Laccase is considered to be a potentially important industrial enzyme. Laccase can be applied extensively in many fields, which include waste detoxification and textile dye transformation (Rama et al 1998Citation, Abadulla et al 2000Citation, Fukuda et al 2001Citation), delignification of lignocellulosics and cross-linking of polysaccharides (Poppius-Levlin et al 2001Citation), upgrading of wine quality (Lante et al 1992Citation, Servili et al 2000Citation), removal of fermentation inhibitors to increase yield of ethanol (Larsson et al 2001Citation), improvement of drug analysis (Bauer et al 1999Citation), as well as construction of new-type energy producing devices and new enzyme sensors (Freire et al 2001Citation).

Laccase typically contains 15–30% carbohydrate. Laccase usually has an acidic isoelectric point and has a molecule mass of 60–90 kDa. Laccase is encoded by a family of genes and produced in the form of multiple isozymes. It has been proven that genes encoding laccase isozymes were differentially regulated (Soden et al 2001Citation). Some are constitutively expressed, others are expressed upon induction by aromatic compounds relevant to lignin, such as kraft lignin, xylidine, veratryl alcohol, etc. (Gianfreda et al 1999Citation, Dekker et al 2001Citation). The yields of laccase from Pycnoporus sanguineus can be increased 50 times using 20 µM xylidine (Pointing et al 2000Citation). Syringaldazine can induce the constitutive form of laccase from Coriolus hirsutus to a 10-fold (Koroljova-Skorobogat'ko et al 1998Citation). Other major factors that can affect laccase synthesis include concentrations and types of carbon and nitrogen sources and metal ions such as copper in the media (Galhaup et al 2001Citation, Levin et al 2002Citation, Baldrian et al 2002Citation).

Trametes sp. AH28-2 is a white-rot basidiomycete that selectively degrades lignin when grown on wood and reduces the level of chemical oxygen demand (COD) in wastewater produced in the process of straw pulping (Wu et al 2002Citation). Preliminary studies indicate that this microorganism can be induced by kraft lignin to secrete high levels of extracellular laccase (Xiao et al 2001Citation, Zhang et al 2002Citation). The extracellular laccase contains at least two kinds of laccase isozymes, namely laccase A and laccase B. Laccase A, which accounts for about 85% of the total activity, has been purified and characterized (Xiao et al 2003Citation). However, laccase B has not been successfully purified due to its low expression under normal culture conditions. Here we have tried to induce laccase production with different aromatic compounds and by optimizing the culture conditions. We have shown that several potential laccase inducers can induce Trametes sp. AH28-2 to synthesize laccase differentially; 3,5-dihydroxytoluene selectively can enhance laccase B production. Here we report the successful purification and characterization of laccase B. Our study shows that it is a glycolyated laccase that contains copper and is different from laccase A.


    MATERIALS AND METHODS
 TOP
 ABSTRACT
 INTRODUCTION
 MATERIALS AND METHODS
 RESULTS
 DISCUSSION
 LITERATURE CITED
 
Chemicals – All chemicals were of the highest purity available. Guaiacol, 2,2'-azino-di-(3-ethylbenzthiazoline sulfonic acid) (ABTS), 3,5-dihydroxytoluene, syringaldazine were from Sigma (St. Louis, Missouri), while 2,6-dimethoxyphenol (DMOP), o-toluidine were from Fluka (Switzerland).

Microorganism – Trametes sp. AH28-2, which was deposited in the culture collection of the School of Life Sciences, Anhui University, China, was found to produce extracellular laccase on an optimized medium (Xiao et al 2001Citation). Aspergillus oryzae (CGMCC No. 3.2825) and Gloeophyllum trabeum (CGMCC No. 5.98) were obtained from China General Microbiological Culture Collection Center (CGMCC). Stock culture was maintained on CPDA medium agar slant at 4 C and inoculated once every 3 months.

Growth conditions and induction of laccase – Five or six cylinders (10 mm diam) of Trametes sp. AH28-2 grown on CPDA plates were inoculated into 100 mL liquid medium in 250 mL Erlenmeyer flasks. Every liter of liquid medium contained 10.0 g cellobiose, 5.0 g glucose, 1.5 g L-aspargine, 1.0 g tryptone, 1.0 g KH2PO4, 0.5 g MgSO4·7H2O, 0.01 g CaCl2, 0.001 g FeSO4·7H2O, 0.1 g Na2HPO4·5H2O, 0.002 g CuSO4·5H2O, 0.0275 g Adenine and 50 µg Vitamin B1. The pH was adjusted to 5.6 with phosphoric acid before sterilization. The culture was incubated at 28 C and shaken at 110–120 rpm. After 72 h, the culture was homogenized using a sterilized blender. Ten mL culture was inoculated to 500 mL fresh medium. After another 72 h, inducer was added to stimulate laccase production. The culture was collected every 24 h 24–144 h after induction.

Cocultivation – A. oryzae or G. trabeum was cultured 48 h and homogenized well, then inoculated into a 60–72 h grown culture of Trametes sp. AH28-2. The coculture supernatants were collected at the same time as that of Trametes sp. AH28-2 alone.

Laccase activity assay – The laccase activity was measured in a 5.0 mL reaction volume containing the indicated concentration of laccase, 1 mM guaiacol and 50 mM succinic acid-NaOH buffer (pH 4.5). Oxidation of guaiacol was determined by the increase in A465 ({varepsilon} = 12 000 M-1 cm-1) (Xiao et al 2001Citation). One unit was defined as the amount of the laccase that oxidized 1 µM of substrate per min. Assays were carried out independently in triplicate.

Enzyme purification – Unless otherwise stated, all procedures were performed at 4 C. A 1200 mL culture was filtered through six layers of gauze, centrifuged at 6000 g for 30 min and concentrated to 60 mL in MinitanTM Ultrafiltration System with a low binding regenerated cellulose membrane (Millipore, Bedford, Massachusetts). The concentrate was centrifuged at 12 000 g for 20 min then dialyzed against buffer A (10 mM citrate-Na2HPO4, pH 6.0) overnight, followed by centrifugation again. The supernatant was applied to a DEAE-Sepharose FF column (10 x 200 mm, Amersham Pharmacia Biotech, Sweden) that was pre-equilibrated with buffer A. The column was rinsed with 80 mL buffer A to remove melanin and polysaccharide, then eluted with linear gradient 0–0.3 M (NH4)2SO4 in buffer A, with a flow rate of 0.8 mL min-1. The fractions containing laccase activity were pooled and concentrated to 1.5 mL with an Amicon ultrafiltration stirred pressure cell equipped with 47 mm 30 000 molecular-weight cut-off filter. The concentrate was subjected to gel filtration in a Hiload 26/60 Superdex 200 prep grade column (Amersham Pharmacia Biotech, Sweden) that was pre-equilibrated with buffer B (10 mM citrate-Na2HPO4, 0.15 M (NH4)2SO4, pH 6.0). The active eluants were pooled and dialyzed against buffer A.

Native-PAGE and SDS-PAGE – Enzyme purity was assessed by sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). SDS-PAGE analysis was performed on 10% polyacrylamide gels. Proteins were visualized by staining with Coomassie brilliant blue R250. After Native-PAGE, the gel was incubated at 25 C in citrate-Na2HPO4 buffer (pH 6.0) containing 2.0 mM guaiacol to identify laccase components. The intensity of each isozyme's (laccase A and laccase B) staining bands, which were separated by PAGE gel, was monitored by using Eagle Eye II Still Video System (Stratagene, U.S.A.) supported by Eaglesight software to calculate the proportion of laccase A to laccase B.

Molecular mass – The molecular mass of denatured laccase was estimated on a SDS-PAGE gel. The apparent molecular mass of active laccase was determined by FPLC with gel filtration on a superdex 200 HR10/30 prep grade column (Amersham Pharmacia Biotech, Uppsala, Sweden). MALDI-TOF-MS spectra were determined by using a model BIFLEXTM III MALDI-time-of-flight mass spectrometer (Bruker Co.) with {alpha}-cyano-4-hydroxycinnamic acid as matrix.

Isoelectric point determination – The isoelectric point was estimated by isoelectric focusing (IEF) using a Bio-Rad Fast Gel System with Bio-Rad wide-range ampholytes (pH 3.0–9.0) and Pharmacia low-range ampholytes (pH 2.5–5.0).

Kinetic measurements – All the laccase catalytic assays were done at 25 C. Initial velocity was measured in 3-mL glass cuvettes with 1 cm path lengths. Reactions were initiated by adding laccase. Initial rates were calculated from the linear portion of the progress curve. The wavelength used for determining catalytic reaction velocities was 420 nm for ABTS ({varepsilon} = 36 000 M-1 cm-1), 465 nm for guaiacol ({varepsilon} = 12 000M-1·cm-1), 530 nm for syringaldazine ({varepsilon} = 65 000 M-1 cm-1) and 468 nm for DMOP ({varepsilon} = 49 600 M-1 cm-1).

Protein electroblotting and sequencing – Purified laccase was electroblotted directly from the SDS-PAGE gel onto a polyvinylidene difluoride membrane (Sequi-Blot PVDF, Bio-Rad) and located by Coomassie blue R-250 staining. The band on the PVDF membrane corresponding to the laccase B protein was excised and subjected to Edman degradation. The N-terminal amino acid sequence was determined using an Applied Biosystems Procise 491 automatic sequencer (Applied Biosystems, Foster City, California).

Other methods – The laccase UV-absorbance spectrum was scanned from 200 to 800 nm at room temperature on model UV110 Spectrophotometer (Peking Ruili Co., China). The copper content of laccase was determined using atomic absorption spectroscopy with a PE 3100 apparatus (Perkin Elmer, U.S.A.) and Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectroscopy (ICPMS) (PlasmaQuad 3, VG Elemental, Thermo Jarrell Ash Corp., U.S.A.). Protein concentration was determined using BCA assay kit (HyClone-PIERCE).

N-glycosidase F (Roche Diagnostics GmbH, Germany) was used to determine the carbohydrate content of laccase by comparing the migration of treated enzyme with that of untreated enzyme on a SDS-PAGE gel. Thermal stability was assessed between 4 and 60 C in citrate-Na2HPO4 buffer. The optimal pH for laccase was determined in citrate-Na2HPO4 buffer with guaiacol as substrate. Inhibition studies were performed using guaiacol as substrate in citrate-Na2HPO4 buffer (pH 6.0). To assess stability of laccase B at different pH values, laccase B was incubated 24 h at 25 C in citrate-Na2HPO4 buffer (pH 2.5–8.0) or Na2CO3-NaHCO3 buffer (pH 9.2–10.7). Then, the activities were assayed as mentioned earlier.


    RESULTS
 TOP
 ABSTRACT
 INTRODUCTION
 MATERIALS AND METHODS
 RESULTS
 DISCUSSION
 LITERATURE CITED
 
Aromatic compounds affecting laccase isozyme composition – Nine small-molecule aromatic compounds were used to induce laccase production of Trametes sp. AH28-2. The induction results were summarized in Table I. O-toluidine induced the highest laccase activity, which was 504 U L-1 in the fermentation supernatants. The next highest to the lowest induction were by 2,5-xylidine, ferulic acid, guaiacol, syringic acid, vanillin, 2,4-diaminotoluene and 3,3-dimethoxybenzidine. There was no detectable laccase activity in the supernatant without induction. Veratryl alcohol alone also could not induce Trametes sp. AH28-2 to synthesize laccase isozymes.


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TABLE I. Effect of different inducers on the laccase isozymes biosynthesis

 
The composition of laccase isozymes was variable depending on different inducers. As shown by native-PAGE analysis, the main laccase isozymes produced by Trametes sp. AH28-2 were laccase A and laccase B. The molecular mass of laccase A and laccase B was 62 kDa (Xiao et al 2003Citation) and 74 kDa on SDS-PAGE respectively (Fig. 1C). The ratio of laccase A to laccase B varied with induction by different compounds. When induced with o-toluidine, 2,5-xylidine, vanillin, syringic acid or 2,4-diaminotoluene, the dominant laccase component identified was laccase A. The activities of laccase A and laccase B were induced almost equally by ferulic acid or guaiacol. It is interesting to note that the dominant component induced by 3,5-dihydroxytoluene was laccase B, which accounted for more than 80% of the total activity in the supernatant (Fig. 2).



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FIG. 1. SDS-PAGE of the purified laccase B. Lane A, N-glycosidase F-treated laccase B (1.5 µg). Lane B, the standard marker (rabbit phosphorylase b, 97.4 kDa; bovine serum albumin, 66.2 kDa; rabbit actin, 43.0 kDa; trypsin inhibitor, 20.1 kDa). Lane C, the purified laccase B (5.0 µg). Sodium dodedyl sulfate-elctrophoresis is performed with a 10% polyacrylamide gel containing 0.5% SDS, the protein is visualized by staining the gel with Coomassie brilliant blue R250

 


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FIG. 2. Native-PAGE of laccase from Trametes sp. AH28-2. Lane A, sample of laccase induced by 4 mM o-toluidine. Lane B, sample of laccase induced by 12 mM guaiacol. Lane C, sample of laccase induced by 20 mM 3,5-dihydrotoluene. The gel is incubated at 25 C for 25 min in citrate-Na2HPO4 buffer containing 2 mM guaiacol, the amount in every lane is about 1 x 10-4 U

 
Effects of small-molecule aromatic compounds on microbial growth and laccase synthesis – Guaiacol, o-toluidine, and 3,5-dihydroxytoluene, which induced different ratios of laccase A and laccase B, were chosen to study the effects of small-molecule aromatic compounds on microbial growth and laccase synthesis. All three inducers used in different concentrations did not change the ratio between laccase A and laccase B. Laccase activity in the fermentation supernatants increased along with the increase of guaiacol concentration from 0.5 mM to 12 mM. Upon induction at 12 mM with guaiacol, the maximal laccase activity was 750 ul-1, which was 19 times that at 0.5 mM. Further increasing guaiacol to 20 or 40 mM resulted in growth inhibition and decreased laccase activity (Fig. 3A). Meanwhile, the ratio of activity of laccase A to that of laccase B was almost constant (5:5) (Table 2). Laccase activity increased dramatically with the increasing concentration of o-toluidine from 0.5 to 20 mM. The activity reached 1610 ul-1 at 4 mM, which was eight times that at 0.5 mM, and 2214 UL-1 at 8 mM (data not shown). The peak of laccase activity was delayed along with the increase of o-toluidine concentration (Fig. 3B). The concentration of o-toluidine did not affect laccase isozymes composition in the culture supernatants; laccase A always accounted for about 95% of the total activity (Table II). 3,5-dihydroxytoluene could induce laccase synthesis in the range of 0.5 to 20 mM but remarkably inhibited the growth and metabolism of microorganism at 40 mM and did not help laccase synthesis. The optimal concentration was 20 mM, at which the total activity was 920 ul-1 (Fig. 4). The dominant component was laccase B and the ratio of the activity of laccase A to that of laccase B was constant 2:8.



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FIG. 3. Effects of the different inducers and their concentrations on laccase synthesis by Trametes sp. AH28-2. A, 0.5–20 mM guaiacol. B, 0.5–8 mM o-toluidine. C, 0.5–40 mM 3,5-dihydroxytoluene. Data point represents the mean of three independent replicates (the following are same). Laccase activity is assessed with guaiacol as substrate under standard conditions

 

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TABLE II. Effects of the different inducers on laccase isoforms components by Trametes sp. AH28-2

 


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FIG. 4. Effects of the co-cultivation on laccase synthesis by Trametes sp. AH28-2. -•- Trametes sp. AH28-2 alone in the presence of 4 mM o-toluidine. -{blacktriangleup}- cocultured with A. oryzae in the presence of 4 mM o-toluidine. -{blacktriangledown}- cocultured with G. trabeum in the presence of 4 mM o-toluidine. -{diamondsuit}- cocultured with A. oryzae without presence of o-toluidine. -+- cocultured with G. trabeum without presence of o-toluidine

 
Coculture with G. trabeum or A. oryzae No laccase activity normally was detected when G. trabeum or A. oryzae was cultured in cellobiose-based liquid culture medium alone or with guaiacol, o-toluidine or 3,5-dihydroxytoluene. Meanwhile, the maximum laccase activity was 1537 ul-1 in the culture supernatants of Trametes sp. AH28-2 cultured in the presence of inducer o-toluidine at 4 mM (Fig. 4). However, when A. oryzae cocultured with Trametes sp. AH28-2, the maximum laccase activity was measured as 210 UL-1 in the culture supernatants and rose to be 1359 UL-1 in the presence of inducer o-toluidine at 4 mM; when G. trabeum cocultured with Trametes sp. AH28-2, the maximum laccase activity was measured as 52 ul-1 in the culture supernatants and rose to be 1001 UL-1 in the presence of inducer o-toluidine at 4 mM. Therefore, a conclusion could be reached that, when cocultured, Trametes sp. AH28-2 may produce laccase with low efficiency if no inducers were added while, with inducers, G. trabeum or A. oryzae may not improve the level of Trametes sp. AH28-2 synthesizing laccase. Conversely, laccase synthesis was reduced by 30% and 11% respectively when Trametes sp. AH28-2 was cocultured with A. oryzae and G. trabeum. In addition, the peaks of laccase activity were advanced in both cases and the laccase isozyme composition of Trametes sp. AH28-2 remained constant under all coculturing conditions.

Laccase B, a glycosylated copper laccase – Laccase B production was induced selectively by 3,5-dihydroxytoluene. To purify laccase B, the supernatant induced by 3,5-dihydroxytoluene was concentrated and dialyzed, then applied to a DEAE-Sepharose FF column pre-equilibrated with buffer A. After that, the column was eluted with linear gradient of 0–0.3 M (NH4)2SO4 in buffer A. The activity of laccase B was detected at 0.1 M (NH4)2SO4, then the laccase B fraction was concentrated and dialyzed before gel filtration in a Hiload 26/60 Superdex 200 prep grade column through linear elution. Finally, the activity of laccase B was collected at the elution volume of about 150 mL. By SDS-PAGE examination, this component was purified to homogeneity (Fig. 1C). The purification fold was estimated to 40.2 with a yield of 19.3% (Table III). Purified laccase B in solution appeared blue. The UV spectrum of laccase B showed a broad peak at about 600 nm and a shoulder peak at about 330 nm. The 280/600 nm absorbance ratio was determined to be 21. Each molecule of purified laccase B was measured to have approximately 4.1 copper atoms by AAS, and 4.0 by ICPMS. Therefore laccase B was a typical copper-containing blue protein with four copper atoms: one type I, one type II and two type III (Thurston 1994Citation). The molecular mass of laccase B was estimated to be 72 kDa by gel filtration chromatography and determined to be 71 454 Da by MALDI mass spectrum. After deglycosylation treatment with N-glycosidase F, the molecular mass of laccase B was shifted from 74 kDa to 55 kDa (Fig. 1A) showing that laccase B was a monomeric glycoprotein with 25% carbohydrate content.


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TABLE III. Purification of extracellular laccase B from Trametes sp. AH28-2

 
The pI value of laccase B was 4.0 by IEF. Laccase B was stable at pH 3.5–7.5. The optimal pH value of laccase B in oxidizing guaiacol was 4.7 in citrate-Na2HPO4 buffer. The optimal temperature for laccase B was 45 C. At 45 C laccase B activity was 2.1 times higher than that at 25 C. The half-life of laccase B was 14 min at 60 C (result not shown). Laccase B was stable at 50 C for more than 50 min. After 12 mo of storage in citrate-Na2HPO4 buffer (pH 6.0) at -20 C, the enzyme still retained 85% of its initial activity.

Laccase B could catalyze the oxidation of aromatic compounds under standard assay conditions (Table IV). Syringaldazine, ABTS, guaiacol and DMOP were preferred as substrates of laccase B. The relationship between enzyme activity and substrate concentration was of the Michaelis-Menten type. The apparent Km value of the enzyme for syringaldazine was estimated to be 28.0 µM, which was lower than those of the other compounds tested. The apparent Km values, determined with ABTS, guaiacol and DMOP as substrates, were respectively 177.0, 1249.0 and 109.8 µM. Corresponding Vmax values were 504.0, 117.4 and 159.0 µM min-1 mg-1. The kcat values for the above substrates ranged from 140.0 to 2277.7 s-1. This suggested that ABTS might be an effective substrate of this enzyme.


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TABLE IV. Kinetic constants of laccase B and laccase A* from Trametes sp. AH28-2

 
In addition, the effects of several potential laccase inhibitors on activity of laccase B were tested. Laccase B activity was not affected by 25 mM EDTA, while 1.0 mM SDS affected laccase activity slightly, 25 mM SDS made laccase B lose 49% of laccase activity. 0.1 mM NaN3 or cyanide inhibited laccase activity strongly. In addition, 25 mM DMSO had no inhibiting effects on laccase B activity, but trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) could inhibit about 52.5% of laccase B activity at 25 mM.

N-Terminal amino acid sequence of laccase B – The unique sequence of the protein sample was determined by the Edman method. The sequence of first 15 residues at the amino terminus was AIGPVTDLTISNADV, which is identical to that at the amino terminus of the lcc5 mature protein from T. villosa (Yaver et al 1996).


    DISCUSSION
 TOP
 ABSTRACT
 INTRODUCTION
 MATERIALS AND METHODS
 RESULTS
 DISCUSSION
 LITERATURE CITED
 
Trametes sp. AH28-2 is a wood-rotting basidiomycete. Initial studies show that laccase is the dominant ligninolytic enzyme synthesized by Trametes sp. AH28-2. The laccase production is induced only when there is an inducer present in the culture medium. Different aromatic compounds can induce laccase production differentially with respect to expression level and isozyme composition. Veratryl alcohol, which can act either as an inducer, a charge transfer mediator or a stabilizer in numerous fungi (Scheel et al 2000Citation), has been found to be incapable of stimulating Trametes sp. AH28-2 in producing laccase. Among all the compounds we tested, o-toluidine, rather than 2,5-xylidine, was the most efficient and 2,5-xylidine was the most suitable inducer in most cases (Pointing et al 2000Citation).

One of the interesting discoveries is that inducers with different structures can induce Trametes sp. AH28-2 to synthesize laccase isozymes of different composition. Guaiacol can induce Trametes sp. AH28-2 to synthesize laccase A and laccase B almost in equal proportion. O-toluidine can induce laccase A much more than laccase B. However, 3,5-dihydroxytoluene mainly can induce laccase B. As for their chemical structures (Fig. 5), although all three compounds are aromatic with one benzene ring in common, they have various substituted groups, respectively. Guaiacol has a phenolic group and a methoxy group at ortho position, o-toluidine has an amino group and an ortho methyl group, while one methyl group and two phenolic groups are substituted in meta positions of the benzene ring in a 3,5-dihydroxytoluene molecule. How the three compounds with different chemical structures affect the composition of laccase isozymes in Trametes sp. AH28-2 is not yet clear.



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FIG. 5. Chemical structures of inducers for laccase isoforms by Trametes sp. AH28-2

 
Inductive aromatic compounds very often are toxic to fungal growth and metabolism, and it has been proposed that one of the possible functions of fungal laccase is the polymerization of toxic aromatic compounds (Thurston 1994Citation). Therefore, laccase may function as a defense mechanism against oxidative stress. Laccase reactions, by consuming oxygen, are expected to disfavor redox cycling of quinines with oxygen, whereas the autoxidation of hydroquinones and semiquinones leads to the generation of oxygen radicals, the corresponding laccase-catalysed oxidations yield water (Soden et al 2001Citation). Fernandez-Larrea et al (1996)Citation reported that the oxidative stress, which was caused by the presence of aromatic compounds, in Podospora anserina typically was accompanied by the induction of laccase mRNA. It recently has been reported by Soden that xenobiotic response elements (XREs) are present in the region upstream from the promoter of lac4 in Pleurotus sajor-caju, which is regulated by aromatic compounds. The XRE has a consensus sequence TNGCGTG, which is the cis-acting element sufficient to stimulate transcription of genes in eukaryote by aromatic compounds (Rushmore et al 1991Citation, Li et al 1992Citation). It is interesting to note that the fact that the laccase II gene in Trametes pubescens is not induced by aromatic compounds may be due to the absence of putative XREs in the lap2 promoter of this gene. Therefore, it is interesting to clone the gene encoding laccase B from Trametes sp. AH28-2, especially the promoter region of the gene, to explore the mechanism of regulation of laccase synthesis by aromatic compounds.

Although yields of laccase produced by microorganisms can be increased by selecting suitable aromatic compounds, it is unsafe to use high concentrations of such toxic aromatic compounds in practice. It will be of great significance if suitable microorganisms instead of aromatic inducers can be used to stimulate laccase synthesis in Trametes sp. AH28-2. Initial studies show that A. oryzae or G. trabeum, neither of which can synthesize laccase by themselves, cannot take the place of aromatic inducers to significantly stimulate Trametes sp. AH28-2 to synthesize laccase.

Now that, in the presence of 3,5-dihydroxytoluene, Trametes sp. AH28-2 can synthesize laccase isozyme laccase B in a more efficient way and because other miscellaneous proteins co-existing with laccase B are relatively fewer, laccase B can be purified to homogeneity by two-step chromatography. Molecular mass of purified laccase B is determined to be 74 kDa by SDS-PAGE, which is larger than that of laccase A from Trametes sp. AH28-2 (Xiao et al 2003Citation). Molecular mass of purified laccase B contains about 25% carbohydrates; thus, the larger molecular mass can be attributed to higher glycosylation. The kinetic constants of laccase B are remarkably different from those of laccase A (Table IV). In addition, laccase B has a lower pI value, a lower optimal reaction temperature and a higher pH optimum, when guaiacol is used as substrate. In addition, the thermal stability of laccase B apparently is inferior to that of laccase A. Laccase B will lose 50% of its activity if kept at 60 C for 14 min, whereas laccase A can retain almost all of its activity. It also can be proved that laccase B is different from laccase A by analyzing N-terminal amino acid sequence of the proteins: The N-terminal amino acid sequence of laccase A is AIGPTADLTISNAEV, which is the same as that of phenoloxidase from Coriolus hirsutus, and shares 87% similarity to the corresponding segment in the phenoloxidase gene (Xiao et al 2003Citation), but the N-terminal amino acid sequence of laccase B is identical to the amino terminus of the lcc5 mature protein from T. villosa (Yaver et al 1996aCitation). Therefore, laccase B is not a modified form of the gene encoding laccase A. At present, five laccase isozyme genes from T. villosa have been cloned but there is no detailed report on lcc5 mature protein. So the property comparison and similarity in the gene level between laccase B and lcc5 mature protein remains to be studied.

In conclusion, the results presented here indicate that, for Trametes sp. AH28-2 cultured in liquid medium, the total laccase activity is affected not only by the different concentrations of inducers added but also by the different type of inducers. Above all, the composition of laccase isozyme also is affected by the structures of inducers. It becomes more convenient to produce and purify laccase isozyme laccase B because it can be directly synthesized by induction of the inducer of certain structure in liquid medium.


    ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
 
This work was supported by Grant No. 30370045 from National Natural Science Foundation of China and by Grant Nos. 04043048, 0103018 from Natural Science Foundation of Anhui Province. We thank Drs. Joseph Jomon and Jun Wang for valuable discussions.


    FOOTNOTES
 
1 Corresponding author. E-mail: yyshi{at}ustc.edu.cn Back

Accepted for publication May 31, 2003.


    LITERATURE CITED
 TOP
 ABSTRACT
 INTRODUCTION
 MATERIALS AND METHODS
 RESULTS
 DISCUSSION
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